The Family
by Ailyth
Summary: ON HOLD! Eventual SantaxJunpei. Lots of AU and OOC to spare! Santa's been given a mission, but it turns out to be more than he bargained for! Read and Review please!
1. Chapter 1

Baddest Santa and Gift Wrap were my tests, and while I'm still waiting for the results of Gift Wrap, people seemed to enjoy Baddest Santa. Now it's time to crack my knuckles and start typing up a storm! He's a preview of what I imagine will be my largest fic ever.

I'm hoping this is going to be entirely in Santa's PoV, but If I have to change it, I'll let you guys know.

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Untitled**_

"Aoi Kurashiki, the Don wants to have a word with you." A man known in our ring as Seven told me. Great, if the Don wanted to see you, it was never good.

"Tell him I'll be right there, Seven." He bowed, and then backed out of the room. It might have been unusual to most people, but I outranked him. There were only two family members ahead of me, and they were Zero, a mysterious figure no one knew much about, and the Don himself.

Zero was always dressed in a black trench coat, and wore a gas mask at all times. We had asked him... or her, if they were hot in that getup. They didn't reply to us, and just kept walking. The Don was your stereotypical Mafia leader, a fat Italian man with a small mustache and a fat cat in his lap.

I thought about bringing my bullet proof vest along, but decided against it. While few left the Don's office without new air holes, those who did were often rewarded generously. The Don would grant you one wish, even the thing most older members wanted: freedom. Retirement from the Mafia was a big deal. Usually retiring meant you forfeited your life as well.

How had I gotten involved with such a rough crowd? Well, it all started when I was a kid. My parents died in a car accident, and I was left all alone. I ran away from the hospital after the news was delivered to me. I didn't want to go to an orphanage. That's when he found me in the streets. He dried my tears and picked my small body up. The Don took me in and raised me as his own son, and in exchange, I served in his family. He said that I had shown promise, and that a hint of darkness resided in my heart. He needed that kind of person in his family, and after how he cared for me, I was glad to be serving him.

Being the Don's half-son didn't mean I got any special treatment. He wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger with the barrel on my temple. That was why he was such a great leader, he was respected. Maybe a better word was feared, but no one dare speak about being afraid of him.

Something told me that the Don was actually saying that to protect me. If he started favoring me, the other members would get jealous. I would be snuffed out faster than you could say "Aoi." I wasn't ready to die just yet.

I nodded to Zero in respect as I passed by it in a particularly long hallway leading to the Don's office. It returned the nod, and continued on its way. Zero never returned signs of respect! Something must be seriously wrong, then. There were rumors that Zero could read people's minds with ease. Whoever it was, it scared me. Maybe it was reading my mind right now?

I had just gotten to the door when I heard a faint "Come in, my son." from inside the door. I stepped past the frame of pain and sat in the chair of despair. Those were their nicknames, since visiting the Don was unpleasant.

"Now, Aoi, you're probably wondering why I called you here. It's time, my son, for your Gift Mission." Everyone got at least two gift missions, one at age 18, and one later at age 35. I had just turned 18 last month. "As you know, you can ask for anything you want when you manage to complete your mission. IF you complete it, I should say."

The Don stopped to drink from a tall glass, and then resumed petting his kitty. "Now, everyone has to draw from this hat," He pointed to a large top hat, turned upside-down and filled with slips of paper. "And whatever is on that paper is your Gift Mission. You can chose to decline, but in doing so, you give up your rights to this and any further Gift Missions. Now please, reach into the hat of wonder and pull out your assignment."

I nervously reached a hand into the hat, and slowly pulled out a piece of paper from the bottom of the pile. I handed it to the Don and he had an amused look on his face.

"This will be a piece of cake for you. Your task is simple. Take care of a teenager known as 'Junpei.' My intel shows him just having turned 18. Before his parents died, his father was the head of the investigation to bring down my family. I can't have him following in his idiotic father's footsteps. If he's even half the man he was, we could have a serious problem when he grows up. Do what you have to do, Aoi. You have to kill him. Make it quick, clean, and then get away before you get caught. Do we have an understanding?"

"Yes, sir!" I saluted to him, showing my respect and what an honor it was to get an assignment straight from the Don.

"Good, now get out of my sight." He smiled at me, and I knew he was playing around. I turned and left the spacious office. All I had to do was kill this Junpei fellow, and I could be free? Sign me up! I met Seven outside of the Neural Training facility.

"Hey, back already? And you're not in a body bag!" He gave me a bone crushing hug.

"I will be if you keep crushing me..." I gasped out. All the air was squeezed out of me, it felt like.

"Oh, my bad. I got carried away." Seven grinned sheepishly as I coughed and inhaled large amounts of air, trying to catch my breath again. "So, how did it go?"

I gave Seven a thumbs up. "I got my Gift Mission just now! It's pretty easy. All I have to do is eliminate some dead policeman's son. His name is Junpei or something."

Seven visibly paled at the mention of this Junpei fellow. "Y-you don't mean, _the _Junpei, son of the greatest policeman EVER? Dude, you have to be careful on this assignment! They say Junpei has these weird powers. He can turn anyone else into his servant, wrapping them around his little finger, toying with them until they break, and then tossing them aside like garbage." Seven pointed to behind him, at the Neural Training facility. "Powers like those guys inside. They say a select few people are born with these abilities, and that facility is getting to the bottom of it."

"So you're saying that we're spending money researching magic powers? Oh, puh-lease. Those things don't exist." I waved off his warning.

"Don't they, Aoi? Don't they? Haven't you ever heard of the elite four? This isn't some Pokermans game, either! They say that there are four members of the family out there who posses powers of epic proportions, each one controlling a different but equally dangerous power." Seven's story was getting annoying. I didn't have time for such things, I had to kill this Junpei fellow and get myself out of this Mafia!

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**End Prologue**

I'm going to start trying to write little summaries at the bottom, too.

In this chapter, we meet Aoi, Seven, Zero, and the Don. We learn a bit about Santa's past, the Gift Missions, and that Santa has to kill Junpei if he wants to be free. There's also talk of mysterious magical powers. But that's all nonsense! Right?

Please Review! I don't think I feel like working on the next chapter unless I get a positive response. I need to know I'm not wasting my time, even if it's only ONE person who enjoys it.

_**FUN FACT: This chapter was exactly 1,337 words long when I finished it, before I edited everything! That must be a sign of good luck!**_


	2. Chapter 2

Well, I decided that sitting here with a chapter completed was a silly idea, so I'm just gonna make the story as long as I can. The chapters generally stay around the same length. Enjoy!

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'Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.' That was the quote which rang through my mind. If I wanted to kill Junpei quickly and leave no mess, I had to pretend to be his friend, and then stab him in the back. Attacking with brute force could damage my perfect body. While I was a deadly murderer, I was also quite thin. If I was going after a more powerful target, they could probably outfight me directly. This was a man like me, though.

I smiled to myself. This would be so easy! With my incredibly-good looks and irresistible charm, no one would be suspicious of me. I was an efficient killer, and that's how I got to be third in command. I had assassinated everyone from US political officials and secret agents to that homeless guy asking for change on the side of the road or that single mother of three. If the Don wanted you dead, you can be damn sure you're going to die.

I emerged from our hideout in a remote location in New York, NY. It was a dirty place, so no one with any smarts came around here. I looked at the address in the file. It was quite a ways away. I guess the hardest part is the trip there. I sighed and started walking towards the nearest subway to get to my destination sooner.

Ugh, the subways are disgusting... A man of my stature should not be traveling like a lowly sewer rat. Is that a urine stain? I shivered, not because I was cold, but of the disgusting sights and smells in the subway train car. I sat down on the seat with the least... unpleasantness. A fat man sat across from me, sleeping and drooling on his shirt. A seat away from me to my right say an elegant-looking lady, dressed in a brown fur coat with a feathery purple hat. She was pinching her nose in disgust, and tapping her foot impatiently. I didn't care why she was there. My seat was right next to the entrance from where I came, so there was no one to my left. Various other people were scattered around the unsanitary mess, but none of them looked remotely interesting.

I looked at the map I had in my hands as the intercom buzzed alive and announced the next station. If this map was to be trusted, I still had about three stops to go. I continued looking around, seeing how many stains I could find. It looked like there were four urine stains, two soda stains, and a stain that looked remarkably like blood. Blood didn't scare me anymore. I had seen enough of it not to care, and had gotten enough on me not to be bothered when the murders got especially messy.

The woman in the purple chicken hat got up and headed for the exit. Someone's kid stuck their foot out in front of her, and she fell right into one of the unsightly stains. A few people around the car laughed, and she hurried out of the subway with her nose turned up and tears in her eyes.

Ugh, I'm sooo boooored. I banged my head against the back of the car. I could tell a few people turned to look at me, but I didn't care.

We started to roll on to the next station, finally. The next stop wasn't too far away, but what finally made me snap was when a fat woman waddled into the car. It wasn't so bad at first, but she had a undersized purse which contained a miniature dog.

It wasn't until we started to move did the dog start it's rapid, squeaky barking. I was hoping she would silence the stupid thing, but she just went on being stupid and sitting there. Other people glared daggers at her, but she was oblivious, as if a stupid Chihuahua barking it's ass off was a normal thing. If looks could kill, she would have been dead over nine times already. She even pulled out a pair of headphones and started listening to music, the bitch!

The announcer played the next station's name over the intercom, and when it finally got here, everyone except the sleeping fat man and the idiotic fat woman stayed. I'd rather just walk the rest of the way to Junpei's house. Besides, I wasn't given a deadline, I could take a year to kill him if I wanted to! Of course, I was already 18 and hadn't actually lived a day on my own that I remember. I wasn't getting any younger over here, and while I did look great, it wouldn't last forever. I wanted to settle down with someone before I lost my hair or something!

I walked down the depressing sidewalk. It was just about time for winter, so every plant was pretty much dead. It was also littered with trash and there were dead birds scattered around. I quickened my pace a bit. I had to find a place to stay before it got dark. The last thing you wanted to do was look as good as me and be alone on the New York streets. Even if I was a feared by many, there were a lot of people out there with nothing to lose.

I had wandered into town, so I knew I was getting closer to Junpei's house.

"Sir, I see an ominous cloud above your head. Come in to my tent, and I'll read you your fortune. For you? Free of charge." A mysterious old lady stopped me as I walked past her fortune-telling tent. I shrugged and stepped inside. What harm was it? There was a hotel nearby and I could just stay for the night.

"Alright. Relax, Aoi, relax..." She got out a crystal ball and set in on a stand in the middle of the table.

"How do you know my name?"

"Hahaha, I saw you coming in my vision. It was my destiny to tell you your fortune. I was lucky you were so willing! Now, let's move on, shall we?" She began to concentrate. "My name is Shirley, by the way."

She placed a hand on her crystal ball, and her eyes started to glow. I was pretty freaked out by this, actually. "Ha, do not be afraid, young Aoi. These are the powers that your friend Seven was talking about."

She knew more than she should have. Her eyes stopped glowing, and the crystal ball shattered as soon as she took her hand off of it. We both ducked under the table as glass flew everywhere.

"Woah! That can't be good, Shirley! What did you see?"

"Ugh, the feedback from my powers was enough to shatter the crystal ball... I saw Junpei in your future, and a beautiful young girl. You're holding someone's hand." Shirley chuckled at me, but I wasn't sure why. Then she continued, "I saw many trials ahead of you, and someone important dies in your future. You will get blood on your hands as well. That's all I saw before... well you know."

"Who dies? What kind of trials? What powers, they really exist?"

"I couldn't tell you anything even if I actually wanted to. I can't see the why, only the what. Besides, this looks interesting. I'd rather you work it out for yourself. Besides, my fortunes aren't etched in stone, I've avoided death many times because I saw everything before it happened. By the way, don't stay at that hotel. Now, go! You don't have much more time. Get to Junpei's house!"

She shoved me out of her shabby tent, and I started heading to Junpei's again. What a strange woman. I looked at the map I had. I was only a couple of blocks away now.

"Ahh!" I fell to my knees and let out an audible yelp. A wave of extreme discomfort passed over me. It felt as if someone nearby was trying to do... something to me. I slowly got back up and started walking again, but a little slower and more cautious. The waves became more frequent and powerful, as if the heavens were trying to stop me from reaching this mysterious Junpei. I almost wanted to turn back and try again in the morning. No, I couldn't do that. Shirley was specifically telling me to hurry here, and she meant now, not hurry here tomorrow!

I looked down at my map and, judging from the landmarks, I had made it to Junpei's house. I smiled weakly before I was hit with a last, intense wave. I collapsed to the ground and felt my consciousness fade. What happens to me now?

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So the magic powers do exist! And then Santa's fortune gets read. Yes, there's a reason no one's called him "Santa" yet! I'll get to it! And he's finally at Junpei's.


End file.
